Warner label BBC Still Format Neutral
January 16, 2008

Other sites, including TVShowsonDVD.com, had indicated this to be the case. But it seemed hard for me to believe that titles bearing a Warner distribution logo could street in HD DVD after May. After speaking with BBC's Burton Cromer today, the label doesn have some amount of unspecified HD DVD releases set for July.  Due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike holding up show production, these plans could change. But Cromer said that because of the overwhelming success of Planet Earth on HD DVD, BBC didn't want to abandon the format at this time. 
In fact on Planet Earth,"we were selling more HD DVD copies than Blu-ray copies in December," Cromer mentioned. "Planet Earth has done phenomenally well on HD DVD, and it would be a hit to BBC's bottom line if we couldn't continue to distribute it. We are having these discussions with Warner now."
Cromer said he predicts being able to continue to release BBC titles on HD DVD through Warner, but is open to exploring alternative distribution options if need be.  
In a big however, though, Cromer said that if consumers stop buying HD DVD, and/or retailers aren't ordering HD DVD in a big way, BBC will have to adjust its format neutral stance.
"Our position is wait and see," he said. "We have HD DVD on our release schedule, but they won't be released until July. We'll monitor the marketplace, and if retailers are taking them and consumers continue to demand them then there is no reason not to release them."

Posted by Susanne Ault on January 16, 2008 | Comments (0)